Gymnastics ask + Star Wars: talk to me about Ataru and any observations or headcanons about an acrobatic form :D
Ahhh thank you so much for this ask!!
I think a lot of the people much more qualified than me to talk about this subject, mainly people who are knowledgeable about sword fighting, have already said what is to be said. Which is that there are very few instances in which doing flips is really going to make your fighting more effective. A tires you out, it sends your momentum in the wrong directions, it leaves a lot of areas vulnerable, etc. Also, as someone who will not try it (but wishes I could for cosplay purposes) it’s definitely difficult to do acrobatics while holding something because it really messes with like your arm positions and aerodynamic-ness.
I will say, this does not mean I think that it was a bad choice to have Jedi do a lot of flips while fighting. It’s the rule of cool. It’s more interesting and fun to watch and it lends to the idea that these people have ability way beyond a normal human.
I will say flips can be helpful when you’re trying to jump very high distances. if you know what you’re doing you’re usually going to clear more air than if you just stood and jumped. For this reason Yoda’s fighting style makes sense to me.
Final verdict: leave the flips mid-sword fight to the Jedi